Original Reads

Here at the Haunted Cabaret, I continue to hear rumors to the effect that horror novelist Stephen King is no longer the author of his own books. According to his detractors, he now employs the services of a ghostwriter(appropriate term, at least!) to do the writing that still regularly puts him on the bestseller lists. His critics' strongest argument is the poor quality of King's recent work. This is the most convincing argument against the ghostwriter theory. Why would a man of King's almost unlimited financial resources hire mediocre hacks to write in his name, instead of talented storytellers capable of duplicating his signature style? I believe the situation is much more straightforward: Stephen King is a creative artist who has run out of things to say, but keeps slogging ahead. Either out of denial, or because his mansion in Bangor needs lots of expensive upkeep.

Unless he's the world's worst investor, or a shopper of Elvis Presley's legendary magnitude, King doesn't need the money. Which leaves us with what I'll call the Arthur Machen theory. Machen was a horror writer of the late 19th, early-20th century, who in his youth wrote extremely popular and effective stories that influenced H. P. Lovecraft, and, through Lovecraft, all the other fantasy authors of the late 20th century, including King himself. Stories like "The Great God Pan", "The Bowmen", and "The Hill of Dreams" both shocked readers of the day and brought their author wide recognition. But Machen completed his greatest work over less than a 20 year time span, even though he lived and continued to write into old age. After inspiration left him, desire wasn't enough. His work became flat and lifeless, much like recent King. I've read some of Stephen King's newest stuff, hoping for the best. It's like hoping the best hitter on your favorite baseball team will come out of a slump. I won't read any more. This is not a slump. It's just depressing. Instead, I'll go back and re-read stories like "The Shining", "The Man in the Black Suit", and "The Stand", classics not only of the horror genre but of American Literature.

Literary types are finally beginning to realize King's worth. I'm happy to say I recognized it a long time ago, back around "Shawshank Redemption" and "The Mist". (In all cases discussed here, the books are better than the movies, although "Shawshank" comes close!) Stephen King has had an incredible run. And even if those ghostwriting rumors are true-and again, I don't believe they are-so what? For all the scares he's given us, here at the Haunted Cabaret we don't criticize. We just say thank you.